Monthly Archives: August 2013

In this entry, I’ll be discussing the basics of the STOCK MARKET as I understand it. I will skip the topic of why you need to invest and become financial free. I’ll be dedicating a post just for that but first, let’s do STOCK MARKET 101.

Just a reminder, It is best to put this in mind before you dive in to the world of stock market.

Stocks – just something you add on your current lifestyle…

what the stock market is just 4 things:

(1) It is a place where (2) you can buy and sell (3) shares of stock of (4) publicly listed companies

What are STOCKS?

Stocks are shares of ownership in a company. When you buy stocks of a publicly listed company, you become part owner of that company. As a part owner, you participate in the company’s growth and future profits. Conversely, you may also lose if the company suffers a loss or performs below market expectations.

Historical data has shown that investing in stocks over the long-term provides superior returns. Stocks offer potentially higher yields compared with fixed income instruments such as time deposits, government securities and bonds.

An investor would need at least the minimum amount of investment to open a trading account which is Php 5,000.00.

*** If stocks are a far thing from your mind, what would you do with your 5,000? Buy a watch? shoes? bag? and everything that goes off fast?… Yes, It may be feel and look good at first because its new… but If you think in long term? They all lose their worth. But If you will invest that 5,000… Long term, It’ll grow and will worth more than that amount!

How do I choose a stockbroker?

There are over 100 licensed stockbrokers accredited by the PSE. Your choice of stockbroker should depend on the type of service you will require and who will best suit your needs. The types of stockbrokers can be classified into:

a. Traditional – those who assign a licensed salesman that take orders through written instructions or phone callsb. Online – those whose main interface with the customer is via the Internet

You can get a complete list of accredited stockbrokers by visiting the PSE website, www.pse.com.ph, or contacting the PSE at (632) 688-7600 or (632) 819-4100.

I recommend: COL Financial www.colfinancial.com

Investing through an online stockbroker is like being your own stock broker. On your own, you will be able to buy and sell stocks as long as you have a computer with access to the internet. Since everything is do-it-yourself, you will be paying the lowest commission rate possible (0.25%).

How do I open an account?

Similar to the process in opening a bank account, you will be required to fill out a form called Customer Account Information Form (CAIF), and submit the following documents, namely:

Depending on your stockbroker, you may be also asked to provide additional pertinent documents and an initial cash deposit in order to begin investing in stocks.

Set-up an account: Setting up an account with a stock brokerage house is just like opening a bank account with at least P 5,000 initial deposit. Your broker will help you set-up an account. Fill out a customer information sheet, submit two valid IDs with picture, sign on a specimen signature card, and you are a bonafide stock market investor.

What companies should I buy?

This is a very important message, that you do the homework in choosing a company to buy.

If a company has weathered the past market crashes, chances are it will again in the future. (That’s why it’s of utmost importance that you pick an industry giant – rather than an unknown company.)

Choose stocks of companies with proven records of profitability with at least some earning in each of the past ten years.

Buy companies that have little to no competition. Airlines, Retail Stores and Auto Manufacturers are generally considered bad long-term investments because they are in fiercely competitive industries, which is reflected by low profit margins in their income statements. In general, stay away from seasonal or trendy industries like retail and regulated industries like utilities and airlines, unless they have shown consistent earnings and revenue growth over a long period of time. Few have.

Diversification is the opposite of “putting all your eggs in one basket,” a practice that is as risky as putting all your funds in one stock. Although temptation of putting everything into one stock might be very great, especially when the price is moving upward, it should be avoided. It is one of the basic rules in stock market investing. Diversification, on the other hand, is the investment strategy of investing in different industry sectors and if possible, different stocks from different reduce your risk considerably.

Invest regularly and systematically.

Do I need to have physical evidence of my stock ownership?

The PSE through its central depository, the Philippine Depository Trust Corp. (PDTC) uses the computerized book-entry system (BES) to transfer ownership of securities from one account to another, thus eliminating the need for physical exchange of scrip between buyer and seller. This system is called scripless trading. However, you may still request for an upliftment of your shareholdings to get a physical certificate.

After buying that company, you need a plan…

There are two types of people in the market:

In this post, I am teaching you to be a FUNDAMENTAL INVESTOR.

The point to all this is to find what works for you. Make a buy/ sell plan. You don’t have to make big bucks overnight. Take the long-term approach, with a plan.

A wise investor always keep track, on a regular basis, of the sock price and the company’s performance. This way, an investor is able to foresee possible consistent poor performance and low profits as well as consequently low stock prices. One of the most important factors influencing the amount of success achieved by an investor is the quality of information used to make investment decisions.

Having placed an initial amount in stocks, the next step is to keep track of the stock price and to follow closely the developments of the company. It would not be wise to put your stock certificates in a safe and have them locked away for years. There have been too many cases of companies that performed badly for years, or even worse – got bankrupt. It would be too bad for an investor to discover after years that the shares have little or no value anymore.

Hold for the long term, at least 5-10 years, preferably forever. Avoid the temptation to sell when the market has a bad day or month or even year. On the other hand, avoid the temptation to take profit even if your stocks have gone up 50 percent, 100 percent, 200 percent, or more. As long as the fundamentals are still sound, do not sell. Just be sure to invest with money you don’t need for five or more years.

Investors should therefore spend some time and effort in studying their investment

Never stop learning, and continue to read as many books and articles as possible written by experts who have successfully invested in the types of markets in which you have an interest.

Nothing will happen without your commitment!

Credits to these following blogs, sites that gives me the inspiration and learnings that I need with the topic at hand:

and so this concludes my stock market entry… I hope you get an idea or two about it and the better If you’d thought of taking action and joining the market…

Invest now, time is of the essence here, the earlier, the wealthier you’ll be. Stop dumping your money on non-sense investments, putting money in the bank isn’t that practical these days as they give few percentage… Think and act now and save your future.

August 26, 2013 a day when the real voices of the Philippine nation was heard.

The Pork Barrel / Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) issue has stirred lots of emotion to Filipino citizens launching a massive reaction which leads to the million people march in luneta, Manila.

The good thing here is that there are no specific leaders of the call. Just a simple post in social media that has been liked, commented and shared. The white shirt which reflects transparency emphasizes that there is no any representation of organization whatsoever. The message is clear – The taxpayers had enough!

It was disappointing to see the government’s action regarding the issue. There are too many politicians involved that will make you question their integrity. As seen on the news, their manner and policy of releasing such big funds to questionable organizations can either reflect on them being inept, stupid or greedy.

There are different estimations on the number of people who joined the rally – 80,000 the least and up to 400,000 maximum. Whatever the numbers are the diversity of the attendees are overwhelming. From students, religious people, celebrities, corporate workers, blue collar people, from group of friends to families.

Others who are not in Luneta also took their part by participating in online discussions. Official hash stags also topped the trending topics of the day #millionpeoplemarch and #scrappork.

Now, the question is… What would happen next? How will this issue be solved and what action will be done to all these? Let’s hope that we’ll get something out of it,. After all, the people have spoken… Love our country, it is the only place that we can really call ours.

Bob Ong, or Roberto Ong, is the pseudonym of a contemporary Filipino author known for using conversational Filipino to create humorous and reflective depictions of Philippine life.His actual name is unknown. -from wikipedia

He discusses life, love and everything in between in the most upfront way. His satires really catches the public’s attention. Stating the society’s truth through comical statements… Keep up the good work sir!

Personally, I prefer creating designs from scratch rather than to enhance an old image. The “I hate most part of editing”? Cleaning. Getting that pimple off, sweat, fixing that excess hair and the likes. These things can be done without the need of Adobe. People / clients have become so reliant of the program that little things that can be done in shooting are left off and instead becomes an artist’s nightmare.

My best practice was when I edited an entire class’ communion souvenir and our company’s employees ID. But of course, as the old cliche goes: practice makes perfect!

But let me veer a little and quote: REPETITION IS THE MOTHER OF ALL SKILL.

and since, I started this post about editing let me show you some of my early works.

my cartoon approach of a birthday invite.

since I love this movie so much, i created my own poster!

my good friend – kristel (atheng)

this is a billboard posted in teresa rizal… (promotional)

note: something changed with the colors upon uploading.

Just to share, I’ve seen this site in Convergence – fontstruct.com, a site that helps you to create your own font. I tried it, too complicated for me. but you should try it, it may seem easy to you.

Well, there goes a few of my designs. Most of these are done in Photoshop, I’ll have another entry on my other designs created in a different program…

Yesterday, A friend asked a designer’s favor – to create a backdrop for her brother’s wedding.

I have the perfect idea in mind.. I’ve seen such designs in the net and I hope to create my own version. The plan is to use Adobe Illustrator so as to have the full advantage of a crisp and perfect vector. Since the plan canvas / tarp to be printed is around 8 x 11 feet. The premise is that a maximum of 5 people need to fit in the frame area.

See the peg for this project:

PEG for the project – credit of photo from pinterest

I am excited to do this one and so I gathered the materials needed. Background and fonts. The concept seem easy enough.

But the finish product is yet to come as the names and words to put on the canvas is still pending. I will post the printed material in this entry once done.

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Follow-up entry:

A few days prior to the big day itself. Here’s the finish artwork of the backdrop! Included here are part of the other signages…

wedding backdrop 8x8ft in size

monogram for the invitations

I am very fond of this project, as it has always been a past time to look in Pinterest – under the weddings category, and such good, classy and inspiring ideas can be seen, that it starts to get you thinking of your own big day.

Climate Change is upon us. This is an understatement as its effect becomes more evident every year. As a matter of fact, our Country is still in the recovering process as we’d been hit by a calamity just days ago. Floods are everywhere, Landslides occur that lead people homeless and hungry.

HABAGAT AND MARING 2013 labeled many provinces under the STATE OF CALAMITY

Commuters and Vehicles are stranded in Las Pinas because of the flood that affect the city. Credits to Photo by: elise reyes

The Climate has already CHANGED. There is no turning back now. We need to start changing our ways, The seriousness of the subject has become very alarming that it has affected millions of people. I believe that more of such events are about to come in the future. Preparation is a necessity.

What could be the solution?

Green Living has always been an option. We apply some of it, or to some completely ignore it. We need this, we need to start doing this. It’ll help us.

Let’s be realistic here and admit that travelling is expensive. If you want that dream vacation you have to save up and plan it way ahead of time. But the following points that I’ll present to you will get you to places and experience something foreign – money free.

Each one of us has that dream place, A special country that we’d love to visit and just enjoy the view, food and see what’s it like living there.

So while waiting for your visa, money or whatever circumstance it is that you have to get to that dream place, Let me give you a few shortcuts on how to feed that inner tourist in you.

1. Watch a movie whose setting is your dream place.

Mine was Italy, so when I saw Letters to Juliet it gives me a panoramic and scenic view of the place, the vineyards, the streets — everything seems to be a perfect setting for that romantic movie.

To be able to walk in their cobbled streets with a cup of gelato in hand… (sigh)

Letters to Juliet starring my favorite actress – Amanda Seyfried

2. Listen to their Music.

Music gives you that wonderful feeling. Just like a scent, it can take you to places.

3. Look into their Country’s Top Destinations.

Imagine yourself being there and taking that memorable photo. Also, It’ll served as an early preparation to arrange your future itinerary.

4. Learn the basics of their Language.

A simple hello, thank you and goodbye maybe? You can learn through an application in your mobile. I’ve seen and used several of these and they are really effective. They have quizzes and phrases with pictures. A sure fire way to learn the basics to get you started.

5. Try a sample of their famous dishes.

For sure, there’s a local restaurant in town that offers international cuisine, it may not be the exact taste as with the original but still you get an idea of what it taste like.

I’ve read that the best pizza is in Sicily… wait for me!

6. Visit travel blogs and read on people’s first hand experience of visiting the country.

Such blogs both entertain and educate me, Other people’s thought and experience are great ways to get an idea of what the place really look and feels like.

7. Know something about their history, culture and climate.

A story on the country’s top statue, Church and president gives you a local touch and familiarize you of the place.

8. Research on the famous people from that country.

Famous people and celebrities are always cool. Maybe when you get there you’ll be able to see them.

There you go, ways to travel through your sense of imagination. Not to worry, soon you’ll find yourself really walking in that dream place with your reliable camera in hand, because If you really want it, you’ll get it. As I’ve quoted in one of my entries…